pppatpc2

We have no interest in the Premiere package, since they are not stocking the upscale wines anyway.  I do understand about the distribution system.  Crown princess was just in drydock in Oregon, conveniently located to several outstanding wine regions and our cruise will be leaving out of LA, again

wine central.  I do not need a Stag's Leap Napa, I am hopeful for some decent mass produced pours. 

Also, it was heartbreaking on the last cruise that the bartenders were not using the vacuum sealers properly and when you could find a good bottle on the Plus package at one of the bars that was not traditionally used by wine drinkers, the bottle was spoiled.  There were four very good bottles all spoiled at the indoor pool bar on the Island. 

Last time we were on a ship in August, they were going through growing pains with the Plus vs. Premiere packages and what wines were available.  I know that generic varietals were listed on the menu and each bar had different offerings for each type depending on availability.  We had to search but eventually found decent brands, Ferrari Carrano, Ancient Peaks Renegade, etc.

Can any of you wine drinkers on board report back on what you are getting these days on the Plus package? 

6 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

Bordeaux is used for Club Class - deck 5.

Do You Wanna Dance and Encore have been performed. There's another on the way but I don't remember which one it is.

Don't know about the bar soap.

The new show is On the Bayou, New Orleans themed.

23 hours ago, Level six said:

Wow, we were on for 30 days and never saw or heard of that.  They were playing cards in there. 

They don’t really publicize it.  Ask the head waiter at Sabatini’s and they can tell you what day it might be.

On 8/27/2022 at 8:06 PM, DRS/NC said:

I was on the May 26 - June 13 TA this year, in cabin PR703.  That is a handicapped accessible cabin on Promenade, aft of the piazza, shops, etc on Deck 7 (quite convenient).  Except for the aft suite I accidentally got on the Emerald in 2016, it's the best cabin I've ever had:  large, w/a balcony to match & an excellent HA bathroom.

 

The balcony was the width of the old PR deck, including the wood flooring. The length was half again that of any balcony I've had ('cept the suite).

 

Fewer eating venues?  Well, there was no Alfedo's or IC (I did miss both) but there was a Sabatini's, Bayou Steakhouse (I had a bigger, high quality filet like Crown Grill), 2 MDRs (both very good) & the buffet (fair to good; good desserts). 

 

Yes, the wifi was lousy -- as it tends to be in the far northern areas on the globe -- but as long as I could get a message out to my DD each day, I didn't care.  [DD worries about her Solo elderly mom.]

Everyone got a full refund of our wifi purchase.

 

The Island was my 10th (of 15 current) Princess ships.  I've also been on 3 or 4 PCL ships no longer w/us.  [35+ PCL cruises.]  Except for the constant threat/discussion of Covid (I tested positive 3 days after getting home), it was a very pleasant cruise.  I spent most of the 18 days on my large, covered balcony w/ my Kindle & coffee cup.  I had delightful socialization at dinner w/all the Solo/Singles I met.

 

If the itinerary is something you really want, don't avoid the slightly older Island Princess.

 

 

We were on the Island in August and they turn Sabatini’s into Alfredo’s on some sea days.  It is listed in the patter under the dining options section.  They did not have a full menu, but most pizzas.

They did not have escargot on the Island in August on the Iceland/Greenland voyage.  They always have them on formal night and my husband loves them. They put shrimp in the escargot dishes with the same preparation.

It is my tradition.  Always Chicken Cacciatore in the dining room the first day. They also offer salmon and beef.  Also dining room breakfast on the last day, one last meal with no check. 😉

We were on several cruises with Godwin and Generoso and we always felt like

treasured guests when they were aboard.  
 

If they read this, thank you for wonderful memories. Generoso, congratulations on a well-deserved retirement.  
 

Godwin, we will watch the boards and make sure, if you are DRO again, to pick your ship. In the meantime, if you find yourself on the 28 day Tahiti voyage on the Crown, we would love to buy you a drink.

23 hours ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

 

Sorry, we have not had the opportunity to order any frozen coffee drinks.  But snack availability is everywhere - just order on the medallion app and it is delivered to you.  It has successfully worked for us in our cabin, in lounges, by the pool, etc. 

 

And we have yet to run out of food to eat considering the buffet is open so many hours and there is pizza, burgers, tacos, sandwiches etc by the pool.

 

We have ordered food / snacks a few times to our cabin and it was always delivered correctly and at the proper temperatures within 15 minutes (at the most).  We were impressed.  And the chips with the homemade chunky guacamole is a favorite.

 

I will look into the frozen coffee drinks and get back to you...

Glad to hear.  We ordered club sandwiches from room service on the Caribbean Princess in June and one night it took 2 hours.

Also thanks for looking into the coffee situation.  I am always happy with any coffee, even the buffet coffee (ish), but with the plus package I am spoiled with double Americano. 

Very nice of you to look into all of these things for us.  Can't wait to board!

Forgive me if this has already been covered, but does anyone know the current price of the Good Spirits at Sea cocktails?

13 hours ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

haha.  I will post your question on our roll call and see if I get a reply.

Thanks!

19 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

These are the ones they had to pour that are included with the plus package. Or so my friend was told by the bartender. I’m not certain it’s entirely correct as that Silverado cab is listed on the premier side of the menu for $17. I’m sure everyone is busy and having fun so I’ll take it as an approximation of what’s there for plus. I noticed there’s no whites. He asked the bartender for all the wines included in plus and that’s what he was shown. 
 

it looks like they are just clearing out odd bits and bobs of inventory.  

Thank you for this!  These were some of our favorites from our last cruise, and hopefully if they are clearing out, they still have some by the time we get there in a few weeks.  This makes me feel very good about the Plus pkg.  Add in Knob Creek and Chocolate Mint martinis and I am a happy sailor!

One added tip on EZ air,  we usually add on 5 days in a city we haven’t been to and extend the trip.  You can choose a different city for the return EZAir and you just need transportation between disembarkation and that city, which is usually cheap. For example, we once had a cruise ending in Venice, we took the train to Rome and spent 5 days there, then took the EZAir home from there.

I bought the patches for years, because I always got seasick even in mild seas.  Several years back, somebody said they use a combination of Bonine and ginger tablets. I take one Bonine every morning and a ginger tablet with every meal and if rougher seas another Bonine before dinner.  They don’t make you drowsy and I have not been sea sick in 9 years.  Even when crossing the Tasman sea in 40 ft waves.  I was skeptical but the whole ship was sick and I was fine. Also much cheaper, they are available on Amazon.

Did anybody take the Princess Killarney tour out of Cobh?  Is so, can you tell me which side of the bus was a better view?  Yes, I will be waiting for Mabel to get out of the gift shop.

18 hours ago, We_like_to_cruise said:

Well, we had a drink in the Bayou Cafe - which is attached to the steakhouse - the other night and enjoyed a guitarist / vocalist.  This evening, based on your query, I went over and asked the restaurant manager your question.  He replied that although they have had jazz in that space in the past there were complaints that it was too noisy.  The restaurant is not that big.  He didn't say "never" but also didn't seem too optimistic that a jazz band was in the near future.

Thank you for the effort, it is appreciated!  Thought a little jazz trio would be fun. 

I used to be a people person, but people ruined it for me.

Thanks for starting our day on a positive note! We are also on the Iceland/Greenland voyage and greatly looking forward to it.  Interesting about the masks.  We were on the Carribean in June and masks were only on staff.

Can someone report if there is live jazz in the Bayou steakhouse and if so, what nights/times?  
 

Also, Maitre D’ ? 
 

Thanks!  Enjoy you trip and we will see you soon.

17 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Yes. As soon as you attempt to connect with the "unconnected" device it will prompt you with something like "OK to disconnect the other device currently connected?"  It's a fairly smart (and simple) system and I have never known it to act up or get confused and refuse to cooperate.  Obviously NOT a system that was written by the authors of the Medallion App! 😄

Thank you so much!  I hate to tempt the fates, but I have been one that has no trouble with the Medallion App.  Go figure.

My husband and I each have the plus package, but I like to use my iPhone during the day and my iPad at night.  You are saying I can do this with the one device package as long as I am only signed into one device at a time?

If anyone is on the Island Princess, do you know what nights they have jazz in the Bayou Steakhouse and

what time it starts?

Look forward to seeing you on the 28 day Tahiti run! 

 A well deserved retirement!  If you are reading this Generoso, thank you for your wonderful hospitality.  The cruises we experienced with you as the Maitre 'd Hotel were among our fondest Princess memories.

56 minutes ago, voljeep said:

if you choose to answer ... how many cruises with Princess have you taken?

 

(sometimes, free upgrades go to new/newer cruisers to 'set the hook' for future cruises in an 'upgraded' category than they booked for their previous cruise(s)

This was our 16th cruise, 185 days

We were on the Caribbean Princess 6/18-6/25.  On the evening of the 16th we received a notification that we got an upgrade and it was just one cabin number different.  We thought they moved us from an IB to an IA since our inside cabin was one away from midship status, but it was across the hall to a BALCONY!!!  Couldn't believe it!  It was our first sailing back from quarantine and the balcony was a wonderful treat.  I wasn't even mad that I had to reprint my luggage tags. 😂

On 6/28/2022 at 12:13 PM, JimmyVWine said:

After some soul searching and number crunching, I figured out that based on our habits, Princess got me to nibble on the bait, but not swallow the hook.  By my calculations, if our party of three drinks what we want, when we want to without slavishly adhering to price limits, we will incur just under $300 in "overages" during our cruise.  So I bought 3 $100 Gift Cards at a 10% discount and called those in to the Princess phone line to load them onto our account as OBC.  (I could have done that on board, but at least I can double-task while I am on hold as opposed to waiting at the PSD while on board.)  So for $270 over the price of the Plus Fare I can cover all of our drinks, or very close to it.  This is in comparison to the cost to upgrade to Premier which would have been ($25 x 7) x 3 = $525.  The higher price would have gotten me an extra Specialty Dining dinner valued at either $87 or $75, as well as photos.  I don't care about the latter, and I can always pay out of pocket for the former if we want to, and still come out ahead.  

Where do you get discounted Princess gift cards?